Anakin's Return
by The.Jalman
Summary: Anakin turned evil. But now he's become his old self again. His quest for redemption is about to begin. A.N: I altered his Vader persona a bit. As in, he didn't have to put on a suit. Just lost his arms and legs. :D


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the Star Wasr movies. Lah dee dah dee dah! EDIT: Have changed to HYPER-DRIVE instead. Thanks for pointing out that error!

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_**Padmé Lives**_

He jolted awake; something in the Force had woken him. There was something warm, something familiar about that feeling. The man who had been Anakin Skywalker sat up in his bed. He didn't look any different, but when Padmé died, the last part of the Jedi in him had died with her.

What was this feeling? Something reaching out to him through the Force. He knew he had felt it before, but where? Suddenly, memories from long ago flashed through his mind. A sunny day, by a lake on Naboo. Warm hands clasped around him at night. Padmé! She was alive. Calling out to him. Lunging off the bed, he dressed hurriedly, hooked his lightsaber to his belt, and strode from the room.

The cloaked and hooded figure sat on a throne, raised above the floor of the Death Star. Darth Sidious watched impassively as the droids scurried across the floor, checking the instruments. He heard the door hiss open behind him, and the voice of his apprentice spoke. Cold, and hard, yet, there was a barely concealed excitement in it. The Sith Lord turned to the man behind him.

"Master," said Vader.

"Yes, my apprentice?"

"I'm taking a ship. I will return in a few days." A brief light flared in the ice-cold eyes.

"Where?" Sidious asked simply.

A slight smirk flitted across Vader's lips. "I am not sure yet."

"Alright, but report to me before you leave to tell me your destination."

He bowed. "Yes Master." Walking quickly, he moved out of the throne chamber. The door hissed closed behind him.

In the tracking centre he stopped and gazed around the large room. At one end hung a huge screen and next to it was an instrument that looked like a microscope. He walked over to it and stopped again. Reaching into the folds of his cloak, he drew out a small, cloth pouch. Slowly, almost reverently, he untied the strings and extracted a lock of dark brown hair. Hair he had carried for the past seven years, since the day of Padmé's supposed death. Sliding it under the lens of the microscope he stared up at the screen. Words flashed across it. The same words he had seen at least a hundred times over the last seven years.

DNA MATCH: SENATOR PADMÉ NABERRIE AMIDALA – SUBJECT DECEASED…

He closed his eyes and called on the Force, _Where are you Padmé?_ In a flash, the Force revealed it to him. Feverishly, he punched the co-ordinates into the machine. The notice read: SUBJECT DECEASED – COMMENCE TRACKING PROGRAM? He hit the key, and waited. Moments later the words blinked out and were replaced with a new message.

TARGET FOUND – PLANET TATOOINE – SECTOR LAMBDA 5.

A wide smile spread across Darth Vader's face, and the sound of laughter was heard for the first time on the Death Star.

For the second time, the door hissed open behind Sidious and he turned.

"Master I…"

"You are going to Tatooine to look for your wife." Interrupted the Sith Lord.

Vader bowed his head. "Yes."

"No," came the reply. "You will lead the clone troops and decimate Naboo."

Red hot anger flared in Vader's eyes. "I will do no such thing." He rasped, barely controlling his growing rage.

"You dare defy me!" screeched Sidious.

Turning his back on the hunched figure, Vader said, "Don't overrate yourself, old man." With that he walked away. Behind him, the shrunken figure rose out of the throne, and with a swift movement sent bolts of Force generated lightning at his back. Vader span around and held out a hand using the Force to stop it. The lightning seemed to jump around in his palm, before flying back at Sidious, slamming him back into his throne.

"Nice try old man," said his former apprentice. "Nice try."

The stars flashed past his ship as he was propelled through space at amazing speed. After leaving the Death Star he'd gone into hyper-drive, putting as much distance between him and the space-station as possible. He knew Sidious would send troops to kill him, but he didn't care. Padmé was alive, and that was all that mattered now.

The red surface of Tatooine, his home planet, loomed before him and he set the controls for landing. Soon, Padmé would be in his arms again. A smile crept over his face for the second time that day, as his ship touched down on the sand of his home.

He walked down the familiar streets, streets he had played in as a boy. Turning a corner, he saw Watto's old shop, the door was open and he let himself in. as he stood there, a scene from twenty years ago played again before his eyes. A fourteen year old Padmé walked into the store, and himself, only a boy of nine years old, looking up at her asking. "Are you an Angel?" His reverie was broken when he heard a shuffling at the back of the room. He quickly ducked outside to avoid a confrontation with the shop's new owner. Padmé was close now, he could feel it.

He walked out of town to the house he and his mother had shared when he was a boy. The door was closed; he knocked on it, not expecting a reply. When none came, he turned to leave. Then he heard the latch click and a voice called out.

"Yes my lord?" wait a minute, he knew that voice! It couldn't be. He turned back, and there she was, completely unchanged. Her hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes shone curiously. She still radiated her beauty, without even trying.

"My lord?" She asked, confused. His face was hidden under his hood, and he made no effort to pull it back. Finally, after what seemed like an age, he managed one word.

"Padme." He saw her cock her head, puzzled at where she had heard that voice before. Then her eyes went wide and she gasped.

"Ani? Ani, is that you?" She took a step closer. Slowly, he pulled back his hood, the sun shone down on his hair. In two steps she was in his arms, her smell, like the flowers of her native Naboo, filled his nostrils.

"Padmé," he breathed. "You're alive." She pulled back a bit, "Ani? Is that really you? Obi-Wan told me you were dead."

"No, angel, I nearly died." He displays his cybernetic arms and legs. "But I couldn't I had to see you. When they told me you were dead…" He smiled slightly, his old happy smile. "I nearly went mad."

"Oh, Anakin." Any words he had planned to say were cut off before they escaped his mouth. Her lips were pressed against his, soft and warm, just how he remembered them. After a long while, she broke the kiss, and gasped. Behind him, stood a whole platoon of Sidious' clone troops.

"I know my love," he said before she'd had a chance to say anything. "I know. Go back inside." With a soft push, he sent her inside, then turned to face the clones, a fearsome anger rising within him. He activated his lightsaber, seeing the reassuring blue glow again, gave him an iron confidence, in what he was about to do. "You boy's really caught me at a bad time. I'll have to send you on your way." In a moment, the air was rent by the sound of blasters and cries of pain. A large cloud of dust rose around the combatants. Seconds after it had begun, it was over. The dust settled, and in the midst of the dead troops stood, Anakin Skywalker once more….

Hope you liked it, may be a one shot, not so sure yet. Please review. Thanks!


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